Everything was black.
"Why… why is everything black?"
A barely audible voice whispered through the void.
Nothingness.
Endless, blind darkness stretched as far as the eye could see—if such a thing as an eye even existed.
You couldn't walk.
You couldn't breathe.
You couldn't even exist.
But... still, in that sea of nothingness, something was heard.
One faint, persistent voice.
"Black… Black… Everything is black…"
It spoke.
"Who am I? What am I? Why is everything black?"
The silence was thick and heavy.
In that world where nothing should exist…
One being still fought to be alive.
Unaware and confused.
Alive, yet still dead.
"Let me… let me out of here…"
The voice cried out.
"I want to leave…"
Then an answer came from the darkness.
"No, no, no... you can't leave."
The other voice — deeper, colder, sharper — whispered like ice slicing through the void.
"This body... mine it is now."
"Body...? What is... a body?"
"Sorry to break it to you, but the contract you signed... this body has become mine. Unless..." the voice paused, savoring the moment like a predator closing in.
Silence.
The first voice trembled, empty of understanding or memory:
"Contract...?"
"Come on... you must remember. Only then can you sign a new one," the cold voice whispered, almost amused.
The first voice sounded fragile, lost:
"Remember? What? Did I forget something?"
"Yes... your blood," came the reply, softer now, but no less heavy.
"Blood...?"
"Mei..." The voice dropped deeper, darker, like a shadow swallowing the light.
"Mei... Mei... Mei... Who is that?" the first voice asked.
"Remember... You must sign the contract, and take this body of yours… So I can leave into the real world..."
"Why...?"
The other voice chuckled softly, almost with sorrow.
"Why must I go through all this... or why did I choose you...?"
It paused, then answered both questions at once:
"The Queen wrote the contracts… I cannot change them… And you are too weak. That's why I chose you..."
"Black..."
"Looks like your blood wants something..." the other voice said. Then — silence.
It vanished.
"Black... Black... Black..." the first voice repeated. Mechanically. Like nothing else remained but that word.
"Here I am back..." said the other voice. "She just wanted to kiss me... Now we are alone again..."
"Black..."
"Remember... You must remember, Kai... Come on..."
Other voice waited a few moments, then continued.
"I have to go or your blood will start to suspect something..." then it disappeared again.
"Kai...? I am Kai... Mei... Mei!"
He remembered.
The strike of that memory shattered the walls of darkness.
And then…
Something moved.
Something took shape.
The first voice, until then faceless, gained form. At first — a lump of black, slimy mass.
But soon…
It began to change fast.
"Kai... I am Kai!" the voice shouted.
"You remembered!" said the other voice, which appeared again out of nowhere.
"You... You are Shadow... What have you done to my body?!"
There was fear in the voice, but also the first hints of anger.
"Nothing... Do you want to sign a new contract?" Shadow asked. His tone was flattering, almost childishly sweet.
"Give me back my body!"
"I will, I will... But it's easier to negotiate this way. I return your body to you, and you give me access to your world!" Shadow explained, then transformed.
Shadow was no longer just a voice — now he had form. His old form — he looked like Kai, only completely black. With glowing red eyes, a hat, and white gloves.
He held a contract in one hand and a pen in the other.
Kai looked at the contract.
This time… he could read it.
It was short but crystal clear:
"Hereby the owner is returned his body, and the guest is given the ability to transfer to reality."
"Shadow didn't give me this contract the first time, because it was easier for him to negotiate with a hostage—my body," Kai thought.
He hesitated.
He didn't know if it was fear or doubt...
"But who is this Queen?"
"What about the powers you promised me—Active Magic?" Kai asked.
"The powers have already been given to you. For a contract to work, things of equal value must be exchanged by both sides," Shadow explained.
Kai looked at him… then at the contract. Then back at him.
"And my sister, will you hurt her?" Kai finally asked.
"Against you and your blood I have no orders," Shadow began explaining in an honest tone. "I only want to go to the world..."
Kai nodded, then grabbed the pen in his hand. He held it tightly, and then signed the contract.
At that, Shadow took off his hat and bowed deeply. Then he vanished with a soft POOF!
Kai's head suddenly started pounding.
A sudden, sharp pain hit him, like someone was driving nails straight into his skull. He grabbed his temples, groaned, and tried to stop the rush.
And then —
A gentle shaking.
Someone's hands.
Someone was waking him up.
"Kai... Kai... Wake uuuup!" a voice shouted urgently.
Kai slowly opened his eyes, hazily seeing a familiar face.
"Mei...?" he whispered as he woke from the dream.
Mei smiled widely, tears quietly sliding down her cheeks and dropping onto his uniform.
"Brother!"
She hugged him tightly, like she never wanted to let go.
"THANK GOD, YOU'RE ALIVE!" she exclaimed, her voice trembling with relief.
They held each other for a few moments, then Mei, a little softer, with a smile full of hope, asked:
"Is it really you?"
Kai blinked, then confidently said,
"Of course I am!"
"Aren't we… perfect?" his sister asked as a final test.
Kai smiled, then loudly replied,
"There's only one Perfect... PERFECT CELL!"
Mei laughed even harder and hugged him even tighter, like nothing in the world could tear them apart.
"What did you do while I was gone?" the brother asked quietly, looking into her eyes.
"I have new clue... But that doesn't matter now... What happened to you?" the sister asked.
"Shadow..."
Mei saw the sad, guilty look in his eyes.
"Tell me everything," she said, stroking his hair.
After an hour, Mei knew everything she needed to know about Shadows, the contract, the powers, and all that Kai had been through.
"It's okay, brother, it's okay," his sister said, patting him on the back. "Let's try to figure this out, that'll cheer you up."
Kai nodded.
Together, they reached the table and stared at a blank A4 sheet of paper.
"Invisible ink?" Kai asked, a little surprised.
"Huh? I didn't even think of that..." Mei looked even closer at the paper, her eyes sparkling as she considered the idea.
"Maybe with heat or light," Kai added, then lifted the paper to the window, but the light didn't do anything.
"Then it must be heat..." Mei whispered thoughtfully, then suddenly remembered: "Maybe you should try Active Magic...?"
Kai looked around the room, and then saw the magic manual on the table—the same one Shadow had given him.
He picked up the manual and started flipping through the pages. The first chapter was called "Nature Magic." He found the fire magic and simply spoke the incantation.
"Flame..." he said, and a small, bright flame appeared on his finger.
"WOW!" they both exclaimed at the same time, enchanted.
Mei took the paper and held it above the flame. A map appeared on the paper, with an "X" mark somewhere in the middle.
"What kind of tunnels are these?" Kai asked, his eyes full of curiosity, as he moved his finger—the flame vanished on its own.
"I don't know..." his sister replied. "But... we'll find out together."
They smiled at each other… and then the silence was broken again by the sound of knocking.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"COME IN!" Mei called out, putting the paper back on the table.
Yuki entered the room and immediately exclaimed, "Ahh!" the moment she saw Kai.
"It's alright… now," Mei told her calmly in a gentle tone.
Kai looked at them in confusion, not understanding what had just happened.
Yuki calmed down, then curiously peeked at the paper. "What's that?"
"We're trying to figure it out too… looks like some tunnels," Kai explained.
"Oh… That looks like the tunnels under the school…" Yuki suddenly said, her voice turning serious.
"Huh?" Mei asked in confusion.
"Yes, there really are tunnels under the school," Yuki explained. "But… going there is forbidden. They say no one who enters ever comes back."
"Where are they???" Mei asked impatiently.
"Well, I can take you there…" Yuki replied.
Kai immediately grabbed Yuki's hand, and together they rushed out of the office. Mei ran after them, slamming the door behind her.
They ran through the academy's corridors until they arrived at a sign that read "No Entry."
In front of them stood an old metal door, surrounded by a strange, cold blue energy that seemed to pulse.
Mei stepped forward and lightly knocked on it, as if checking whether it was real.
"How do we open this?" she asked.
"You can't… only Elves can—" Yuki began, but the siblings completely ignored her and were already flipping through the magic manual.
"Here… Barrier," Kai said, placing his palm on the door. The blue glow dispersed like smoke and vanished without a trace.
"Let's go!" Mei shouted and flung them wide open.
"What? How did you—?" Yuki began, but again, only silence followed as they stepped inside.
A dark tunnel greeted them. The damp walls reeked of rot and were covered in a thick, sticky layer of slime.
"Ew… I'm not going in there," Yuki said with disgust.
"I need Yuki… maybe we'll need… a sacrifice," Kai thought, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.
Without a word, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into the darkness of the tunnel, despite her protests.
Their footsteps echoed as they descended deeper and deeper, as if the path was leading them straight into the core of the earth.
"Where did you get Active Magic?" Yuki asked, but once again, her voice went unanswered.
They stopped. Ahead, the tunnel split into two paths—left or right. They looked at the map, then turned left.
They walked for a long time… at least half an hour. The damp, rotting smell grew stronger, and the walls became more and more coated with slimy buildup. Eventually, they reached a room—built of the same revolting structure as the tunnel, only wider and more unnerving. In its center stood an altar.
"Look at this…" Mei said, stepping up to the altar and picking up a small, shining box that rested upon it.
Until then, Yuki had been staring at the wall, absently examining just how dirty and slimy it was. When she turned and saw what Mei was holding, her eyes went wide with fear.
"AHHH!" she screamed, falling backward and scrambling away along the floor. "DROP IT! NOW!"
"What, this little box?" Mei asked in confusion.
"DROP IT!" Yuki repeated, her voice trembling with panic.
The siblings glanced at each other, then both looked back at the box, studying it as if they wanted to uncover its secret. Slowly, they began stepping toward Yuki.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" she screamed, then, with a sudden burst, jumped to her feet and bolted from the room, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel.
"What's wrong with her?" Kai asked.
"No idea…" Mei replied, lowering her gaze to the box and beginning to carefully examine it from top to bottom.
"Open it…" Kai said quietly, his voice echoing in the empty room.
Mei remained silent, as if weighing whether it was a wise idea. Still, she slowly lifted the box's lid.
Inside, on the inner surface, strange markings were engraved — a kind of ancient language neither of them recognized.
"Translate," Kai uttered, brushing his fingers across the symbols. A moment later, the unknown letters shifted into words they could understand:
"If you free me… you will be rewarded."
They looked at each other — the silence between them heavier than the tunnel walls. Then, identical faint smiles appeared on their faces.